Flicks Review

Aquaman is a lot of movie. Nearly every shot is drenched in visual effects, doused with music, dripping with whiz-bang action. It’s a testament to the sure hand of director James Wan that it never gets overwhelming. In fact, it just gets more entertaining.... More

It’s like several movies stuffed into one—parts involving the villainous Black Manta are as gloriously cheesy as The CW’s DC roster, treasure hunts in the Sahara and Sicily come off like Indiana Jones (ok, maybe National Treasure), and there’s a whole lot of Star Wars/LOTR-type world-building going on under the sea.

Wan holds nothing back: Amber Heard wears a dress made of jellyfish. An octopus plays tribal drums. Dolph f*cking Lundgren shows up with bright red hair. And this is when things are just getting warmed up. It’s completely ludicrous, and all the better for it, Wan festooning his Hero's Journey with as many visual whimsies as he can.

There’s also a small portion of brain-veges to go with all this eye-candy: Patrick Wilson’s King of Atlantis is quite rightly POed about humans trashing the ocean. But then again he’s pretty explicitly Aryan-coded, shrieking about pure bloodlines and whatnot. It’s confusing. Anyway holy shit here comes an army of fish monsters!

Jason Momoa’s screen presence was a concern going in, but you know what? He’s pretty great! Charismatic enough, even if his chemistry with Heard isn’t exactly off the charts. There is one extremely sweet romance in the film, but it isn’t theirs, it’s one that speaks to the film’s larger theme about uniting across racial lines.

DC have doubled down after the muted reaction to Justice League and thrown everything at the wall, and most of it sticks. In my screening the crowd started off pretty muted. When the last shot cut to black a big cheer rang out.Hide

RexHThe opening scene with the pirates was suitably tense. The visuals and fx were excellent. But that’s it.

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Aquaman

A very enjoyable afternoon at the movies. CGI was amazing, the cast were on par, story was captivating enough you could forgive the occasional cringy lines the poor cast had to deliver lol. It was pure and simple fun.

This movie is so Over The Top it comes back down just to go OTT again. Seriously. The last 20is minutes is such a glorious extravaganza of CGI excess you'll either love it or have a nap.

Jason Mamoa as Aquaman finds the right pitch for this kind of silly fun. Somewhere between zen surfer dude and heavy metal (actually, this movie's score could've done with a bit more of that) rebel.
D.C continues to diversify a historically very Pakeha heroverse, Aquaman has a Maori dad. Very nice to... More see them hongi and hear mention of tau-moko. If a bit puzzling. As J.M is half Hawaiian, why not use that?
Everyone deadpaned their way through a script that was (I sincerely hope) never meant to be taken seriously. And it worked very nicely. I'm not sure all those chuckles were intended but, hey, take 'em where you can get 'em.
Nicole Kidman did a surprisingly good turn as Action Babe. Kicking arse in a artfully decorated skin-tight wet suit. - Don't you DARE threaten MY baby!!!!!! - While Temurea Morrison graciously consented to be the rescued Love Object. Awww♥

You don't go to movies like this for thought provoking drama, originality or the exploration of the human condition. You go to pleasurably waste a few hours while chomping on some popcorn. If the audience enters the theatre with realistic expectations, I think most people will feel they got their monies worth.Hide

Whoever oversaw the script should be fed to the sea as this was rotten fish guts from beginning to end. If you counted the cliches you would be given an honourary doctorate in mathematical theory. Over colour processed, over thought and over done. There is some early 90's Shortland St type acting going on here - DC is a sinking ship if this is the carp theyre trying to foist on the public. Avoid this if at all possible.

This is a let-down: a laborious, slow-moving and dripping wet film, barnacle-encrusted with solemnity and with a ripply-underwater production design that looks like a giant version of the kitschy items that you put in fish-tanks.Full Review

Aquaman does everything we expect a big-budget superhero movie to do, but it also remembers ... to have a heart, and something other than mere bombast to give us for bothering to show up. Bravo.Full Review